Trips to Neptune
by moonswirl
Summary: These are short fics, ficlets, written for friends as holiday presents though not finished in time naturally. There will be 22 in whole.
1. And I know, I'm not ready

_So as a sort of holiday thing, I've been writing short little ficlets for a bunch of friends and people from various boards and communities. Some of them are for VM, so I figured I might as well post them here too :) Basically what it was is that I had 100 lyrics from songs here and there, and they would pick three of them, tell me what shows they wanted... :) Since they're all one-shot ficlets, and I have a lot of them for VM, I figured I'd just put them in one 'story' here at Okay, I think I've babbled long enough, on with the stories :)_

Title: And I know, I'm not ready...  
Author: moonie  
Pairing/Character:Keith Mars  
Word Count: 486  
Rating: G  
Summary: Set in the Wrath of Con flashbacks

I returned home from work late the night before. Lianne was already in bed, sleeping. Veronica wasn't home yet, but with this dance, I wasn't surprised. I grabbed something to eat and settled down in front of the television, still in my uniform.

The next thing I knew, I was awakened by the phone. I must have dozed off; I looked at the clock and it was almost five in the morning.

"Hello?" I cleared my throat before speaking.

"Keith, it's Jake Kane. Listen… Duncan and Lilly haven't returned yet. I spoke with Lynn Echolls and neither has Logan. Is Veronica there?" I looked back, finding a barely awake Lianne yawning and tying her robe as she gave me an inquisitive look. I went to Veronica's room and looked in. Her bed was empty, undisturbed.

"She's not there either. Look, I'll come over and we'll figure things out."

"Okay, see you then," Jake spoke before hanging up.

"What's going on?" Lianne asked as she saw me go for my jacket and keys.

"The kids haven't come home yet. I'm going over to the Kanes' call if Veronica comes home?"

"Okay," she nodded nervously.

"It's probably nothing," I reassured her.

"I-I know…" she nodded. "Go on."

I left, getting into my car and starting toward the Kane residence. The whole time, I had to work to convince myself that it _would_ be all right, despite the fact that I wasn't all too sure of this. In the years of her life, I had lived with the blind faith that nothing would go astray as far as my daughter was concerned.

But lately, I had to face the facts. My little Veronica wasn't so little anymore. She was this little woman now, and deep down it was a scary thought. She was growing up, with this whole world around her that I couldn't understand. It wasn't like before, when we could spend so much time together.

Now she had Duncan, Lilly, Logan… It was there, it was real… she was changing. I'd brace myself, tell myself that it had to happen, but I couldn't let it go.

When I got to Jake and Celeste's, they let me in, we had quiet coffee… Things had always been this way between us and the Kanes. It didn't matter that our families were tied this way, there was always this boundary. None of us spoke of it though.

We stood looking out the windows for some time before the limousine was finally visible up ahead. We filed out to go stand in wait. The car came to a stop, soon depositing Lilly, Duncan, Logan, and my Veronica. Still so sweet, innocent, how could it have been so long since she would wrap her tiny fingers around one of my own and stare at me with the wonder of a new life? It was a frightening concept I was loathe to entertain.

2


	2. But I still haven't found

Title: But I still haven't found what I'm looking for  
Author: moonie  
Pairing/Character:Veronica Mars  
Word Count: 347  
Rating: G  
Summary: Set after the season one finale

When Veronica opened her eyes, it took her a long moment before the events of the previous night started to come back to torment her. She'd finally done it… she'd found Lilly's killer and he would pay. But then so would so many others. Her father was in the hospital because of Aaron Echolls, she herself had almost died…

Logan had to deal with this double whammy of a revelation. Not only had Aaron killed his girlfriend, but he'd been sleeping with her too. The Kanes had to deal with this new truth, no doubt regretting some actions made on false assumptions… the list went on.

Of course, no one had paid a bigger price than Lilly. She had been herself, never knowing that it was going to get her killed. And after all this time working to avenge her, now Veronica was left to face what it would mean for her life now.

It had been her 'raison d'être' for so long, now that it was accomplished, there was nothing left to do for Lilly. She was still gone. Veronica hadn't been so far gone that she'd think this would bring her back, but she was at least expecting something. For almost two years she'd gone on, having lost her best friend, hoping her work would bring her… something. Closure? Justice? Peace? Would she ever have those? Really have them?

The image of Lilly's body, the pool of blood soaking her hair… No matter what she did, it would always be there, it would continue to assault her from time to time, when she least expected it and when she was least protected from it. The only comfort she could have was to know that Aaron Echolls wouldn't be able to do it again.

Still he'd destroyed so many lives in the process, and they too would continue to suffer from the memories. They would all try to go on, but their journey would never be over. It didn't mean they wouldn't try. So Veronica got up, got dressed, and she went to visit her father.

1


	3. You'll find beauty

Title: You'll find beauty in the toughest of places  
Author: moonie  
Pairing/Character:Veronica, Weevil, Logan  
Word Count: 762 (I think)  
Rating: G  
Summary: Weevil goes to Veronica for help.

"Got a bill here for… Miss Sally's ballroom dance school?" Wallace looked to Veronica with a smirk.

"Don't ask," she grabbed it with a grin. "That goes in the 'cover' pile."

"So how is filing a 'privileged look into the PI world?"

"There are many levels to get through, young Fennel. It's not all car chases and damsels in distress," she shook her head.

"Do I get badges?"

"I can make you some."

"Cool," he nodded as they got back to work. He picked up another bill and snickered.

"Alright," she snatched it away with a roll of her eyes.

A moment later, the door opened and in walked Weevil. The look on his face expressed something so unlike what they had come to expect, that both Veronica and Wallace stood.

"Can we talk?" he addressed Veronica, indicating the private office.

"Keep at this?" she turned to Wallace before guiding Weevil aside.

"Yeah," Wallace nodded. Once in the office, Veronica closed the door and turned to Weevil.

"What's up?"

"I… I have to ask for a favor." Seeing clearly that this wasn't time for jokes, Veronica asked, "What do you need?"

"My niece is missing."

"What?"

"I don't want to take this to the cops. They don't have the best track record, you know?"

"Well are you sure? She could be at a friend's, or…"

"She's not."

"When's the last time you saw her?"

"This morning, I dropped her off at school. She didn't get on the bus back."

"Okay. I'll call my father, and…"

"No way. He'll call Lamb and those guys."

"He won't, not if I ask him not to."

"What makes you so sure he won't do it anyway?"

"Look… I know you don't trust people much, and in this town I don't blame you… But you can trust my dad." She waited a moment, and finally he nodded. "Okay… I'll have to bring Wallace into this too, we could need him."

"Whatever you say." Veronica went to open the door and signal Wallace in before heading for the phone.

Twenty minutes later, Keith Mars entered the office to find the three of them there.

"Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long. Got those pictures?" he asked his daughter.

"Yeah," she handed him one of the copies they'd made.

"Okay, I'll take the school and surroundings. Wallace, you have the list of locations to check out?" Keith asked him. He nodded, showing the sheet they'd had Weevil write out.

"And we'll take the neighborhood," Veronica indicated Weevil.

"Let's go," Keith agreed after a moment.

As the search wore on, Veronica and Weevil got to talking. The silence only brought worry into the mix at increasing levels.

"It'll be dark soon," Weevil looked up to the sky.

"We'll find her," Veronica tried to reassure him. It wasn't a regular thing to see him worried like this. It was odd, but also made her even more concerned.

A moment later, Veronica's phone rang. She quickly picked up.

"Dad?"

"Not really." She closed her eyes.

"Logan. What is it? I'm kind of busy."

"Right, I won't keep you. I'll just go back to this little girl who bears a striking resemblance to the one in the pictures your father was showing around and tell her…"

"Wait, back it up," she asked Logan, stopping Weevil at the same time.

"Yeah, found her wandering about aimlessly. Took her to my place."

"Okay, hang tight," she hung up. "She's at Logan's." Off the confused look he gave her she went on. "Yeah, we'll figure it out there."

"Let's go." They hurried off, Veronica calling the others off.

When they got to Logan's, they found the girl sitting by the television with some cookies, Logan at her side. When she saw her uncle, she jumped up to hug him.

"What happened? Where'd you go?"

"I got lost…" she spoke in a small voice.

"She was freaked, got her in here with the cookie/cartoon combo. She got over it," Logan shrugged. Weevil stood straight as he looked up to him. His gaze was focused, and the words halted at his face, hard to vocalize. "You should get her home. I'm sure people are waiting for you." Weevil took his niece's hand and they left.

"Thanks," Veronica spoke as they were left alone. Logan nodded. "Well I should get home."

"Right," he continued to nod.

A moment's pause later, she turned and walked off. He watched her go, then finally closed the door.


End file.
